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“I know there was a small clip that was sent to me this morning and it was Ricky Ponting having a small word,” Raza told the broadcasters immediately after Zimbabwe’s win. “I was excited. I was nervous. I was thrilled about today. Motivation was always there, but if I needed that little push, I thought that clip did a wonder this morning. So thank you very much to Ricky as well.
“..some of my friends and family members messaged and they said they had a kind of tear in the eye,” Raza said at the press conference after the match. “For me, I had goosebumps, one of the greats of this game talking about Zimbabwe and in particular me.
“Not that I needed an extra kick, but if I needed that, that clip did the job for me. I wanted to stay calm, but at the same time be pumped up for this game.”
In a glowing assessment of Raza’s year, in which he has won more Player-of-the-Match awards than anyone else – seven – Ponting praised the way Raza has embraced a senior role in the side and how he has been willing to face challenges head on.
“In the T20 game, because it’s such a moment-based game where it comes down to the result of one particular ball, the older, more experienced guys have a better way of thinking their way through situations, knowing exactly what’s required here and now and then going and doing it,” Ponting said in a clip released by the ICC. “I said about Sikandar Raza at the start – the maturity side, he just seems to know exactly what to do, when to do it and he has been good enough to get it done.
“At the age of 33 or 34, it’s not easy to get better and improve. But he’s found a way to improve whether it be 50-overs cricket or T20 cricket, probably under the most pressure that he’s ever been under in his life.”
Ricky Ponting on Sikandar Raza
“All the best players in the game that I’ve known, and across other sports as well, is when those big pressure moments come, that’s what they want. You know Shane Warne was a great example of that, Glenn McGrath was a great example of that. Those players, they want that big moment, they want that stage and when they get there, they’re not going to let it slip. They are gonna make the most of it and make sure they get the job done. And that’s what’s Sikandar has done so beautifully.”
“I think since I’ve been part of Zimbabwe cricket, I would rate that the best victory we’ve had because there’s no better stage,” he said. “This is the World Cup, the biggest stage of all.
“To beat Pakistan by one run…the modest total. You’re going to have to do everything right to defend that, which we did. I think for me that’s probably the best victory I’ve been part of with Zimbabwe.”
“At the age of 33 or 34, it’s not easy to get better and improve. But he’s found a way to improve whether it be 50-overs cricket or T20 cricket, probably under the most pressure that he’s ever been under in his life as far as the player is concerned,” Ponting said. “He’s 36 years of age, but he’s playing with a more youthful exuberance. Now it looks like he’s, you know, 26 again, he’s running around in the field and enjoying himself and leading from the front.”
Ponting’s praise is not the only thing Raza is going to finish the tournament with. He has already earned three watches off his captain Craig Ervine, and could add more to his name before the World Cup ends. “When we were coming to Australia, I said to my captain, ‘if you become Man of the Match, pick any watch from the catalogue and I’ll buy it for you, but if I become Man of the Match, you’re going to buy me one’,” Raza said, explaining why he demonstrated to his wrist when he was named Player of the Match on Thursday. “I was just reminding him that he now owes me three watches.”
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